After the fall of Saddam Hussein, Baran, a Kurdish war hero, accepts a position as police chief in a lawless village in Iraqi Kurdistan at the borders of Iran and Turkey, a nexus for illegal trafficking. Although he had hoped to spend some time with his family after the war, his mother’s insistent matchmaking drives him to accept the new job.

Once in office, Baran refuses to follow the wishes of Aziz Aga, a corrupt tribal chief and ancestral master of the valley. Along with Govend, a beautiful and brave young woman who has come to work as the teacher in a newly-opened school, he challenges Aziz Aga’s power. Directing with humor and imagination, director Hiner Saleem appropriates the conventions of the western in quirky and delightful ways. The locations and cinematography impress and the music track is a hoot.